Blimey. Poor Aussie Thor. Looks like the events of Ragnarok have really taken their toll. Hela must’ve whacked his hammer harder than I thought. Good job he has such a good sense of humour. Maybe it’s the angle of the photo, but don’t you think he looks tired? Black Widow should sing him a lullaby.

This was amazing. It’s now my favorite Marvel movie. It has all of GOTG’s strengths with none of its weaknesses. It’s crazy that this is the first superhero movie to fully capitalize on Jack Kirby’s aesthetic. His style has shown up in many films of course but this movie could’ve been art-directed, even co-directed, by him. The Sakaar scenes put this film near Star Wars territory in terms of daring, original, lived-in sci-fi world-building. The Hulk parade was an incredible touch. I also loved the slow-motion scenes of the Valkyries fighting Hela, then of Thor, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Skurge fighting Hela’s armies. I love stuff like that–they’re like animated paintings inserted into the film.

I actually liked the Dr. Strange cameo. That should’ve been his introduction to the MCU. No need for the paint-by-numbers origin story we got.

Taika Waititi is one of the funniest actors around so I’m glad he chose to play Korg. “Go away, ghost!” is my favorite line from the movie. Now for a short film with him as Korg and Julian Dennison as Korg’s son for the blu-ray.

One thing I wished the movie answered is what Asgardians are exactly. I mean, Thor, Loki, Hela, Odin, they’re all powerful gods. The Warriors Three and presumably Skurge are lesser gods. But what the hell are the civilians? If they’re gods too why are they so helpless? And what do they do all day?

Asgard’s nebulousness is the movie’s main flaw, imo. But it shares that with the other Thor films and the movie has more than enough cool shit to balance things out.

One thing I wished the movie answered is what Asgardians are exactly. I mean, Thor, Loki, Hela, Odin, they’re all powerful gods. The Warriors Three and presumably Skurge are lesser gods. But what the hell are the civilians? If they’re gods too why are they so helpless? And what do they do all day?

Asgard’s nebulousness is the movie’s main flaw, imo. But it shares that with the other Thor films and the movie has more than enough cool shit to balance things out.

There was an episode of Agents of SHIELD that touched on “regular” Asgardians:

"The Well" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division), revolving around the character of Phil Coulson and his team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as they search for an Asgardian weapon while fighting a paganist hate group. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. The ...

They’re whatever each film (or TV show) needs them to be. Any attempt to set a rule could be undone in the next production.

It was only an issue for me with Hela this time. When she takes on the Asgrardian troops there’s a moment where she gets stabbed right through her torso!

And then she shrugs it off and keeps fighting like it never happened.

Which means that the fight was totally pointless, and so were all the others until the end. She is unkillable, even worse she’s unwoundable! Throw a billion soldiers, swords, bullets or bombs at her and it doesn’t matter the slightest bit.

Thor: Ragnarok - The greatest thing about this film was how reverential it was to the source material while also telling its own story. The inspirations from creators like Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson are clear along with clear references to stories like Planet Hulk. However, it very much makes its own path and ends up in a place that feels like a fresh take on Thor himself that seems true to the character without being overly beholden to what has came before.

It seemed like Taika Waititi was allowed to put his creative stamp on this rather than have to toe the line of some house style like the last handful of Marvel films have. I think it made for a better product. The comedy was turned up even further and even weirder and it really worked. Chris Hemsworth really shined in this. I also loved the action scenes especially the slow motion attack of the Valkyries and Thor’s fighting the undead warriors on the Rainbow Bridge.

I know some don’t like the song choice being too on the nose but I think Immigrant Song was so perfect for that scene. It makes me want see them use Thunderstruck and No Quarter in future installments. The music was so spot on. I didn’t realize until that film was over that Akron’s own Mark Mothersbaugh was the composer.

The design of the whole film was pretty incredible too. The worlds felt lived it but quirky and cinematic at the same time. There were so many small pieces and nods that contributed to the whole of the picture. Those elements along with the type and several other small things gave the film a very 80’s feel without feeling dated.

I hope this is the new picture of Marvel films moving forward and that they continue to let directors put more of their own style into the films and stories. The Thor at the end of this film doesn’t feel like any Thor that came before and I want to see more.

Agreed on all points. There’s a podcast called Good One that just had waititi on for a long interview, and yeah, he was given pretty much free reign and proudly states he just trashed everything that came before (a little too strongly, if you ask me. The pride that is, not the end result).

He also goes down a weird path of talking about the scene with the wooden trident and Thor explaining how he flies and the inspiration from the scene, which sounds quite a bit like he was insulting the art department (paraphrasing: we showed up to the set and they had given us all these really stupid weapon props, so we just started making jokes about all of them)

Apparently not just a good comedic actor; he had a hand in contributing to a lot of the comedy writing (at least for Thor himself) in the film, too; the explanation of using his hammer to fly is one example

To be clear, I still think Hemsworth himself is a huge positive draw as a comedic presence in this movie, a nice change of pace. But the shift to all-out comedy throughout suggests parody. In a previous era, this was Adam West material (although even West played his part straight, and even Kilmer and Clooney did).

I just find this troubling. You’ve got a lot of people calling this the “best one yet,” and yet as fun as it is, it feels like a signal saying that the only way to like superheroes in 2017 has suddenly become to not take them seriously anymore. I mean, there was also Logan (incredibly serious) and Wonder Woman (female empowerment!)…

And yes, I overanalyze everything, but…

I view DC movies as an attempt to take superheroes at face value, to tell their stories in a manner that accepts them as a valid story vehicle in any medium. They can have humor in them, but that’s not the whole point.

These Avengers movies, though…And clearly not all of them, but there’s been an inclination to this direction from the very beginning. Tony Stark was built to take the piss out of the idea, in these movies. And they’re incredibly popular, not just among existing comic book fans, but general audiences. But what message does the latter get from this approach? That’s what I wonder about. Is that why comics never get increased readership from these things? Because they’re in essence confirming what these viewers already thought about them, but at least giving them a look that’s acceptable in a format that makes it palatable?

I disagree. While there was a lot of wacky comedy, I think think the action and hubris were dialed up as well and there was a real reverence to the material. I think the real difference was that it didn’t feel like we were going down a checklist of beats that were required to fit in the film to fit the Marvel Studios way.

Tony Stark was built to take the piss out of the idea, in these movies.

And yet we see him gain genuine motivation through-out and the narrative doesn’t have to rely on him watching his mother die until Civil War.

If anything, the recent DC movies (apart from Wonder Woman) back up the assumption the comics are to be parodied with unrealistic worlds, narratives and character motivation. There’s a very big difference to having self awareness within a genre film as opposed parodying it in a destructive way. Playing it straight when it’s been played straight countless times before can be as bad as parody.